NewDelhi: Delhi ex-minister Satyendra Jain has been released on bail in a money laundering case by the Rauz Avenue Court, which has suggested that the case is unlikely to reach it’s verdict anytime soon. Jain was released on a personal bond of ₹50000 of which the dictum was an emotional one for Jain’s wife who cried on the arm of the court.
Likewise, the Rauz Avenue Court affirmed that Satyendra Jain has been detained for a long time and noted that the trial is going to be open-ended and thus cannot determine when the trial is likely to end. Therefore, Jain was granted bail on strict conditions and was treated as having met all the requirement to apply for bail. This is in a bid not to contact any of the factors that make up the case, thus not interfering with the trial, and is restricted from travelling to any part of the Indian continent.
Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP party leader and former Delhi CM who supports Prashant Kishor to advise AAP, also joined the protest for Jain’s release. During an interaction with the media, Kejriwal said, “After more than two years in jail, Satyendra Jain has been granted bail. What was his crime? He has been raided several times without dreaming of getting one rupee. He only went wrong in setting up clinics in the neighbourhoods and offering free treatment to every person in Delhi. To discontinue giving free medical services to the needy, Modi imprisoned him to close them down these clinics. But God is on our side. Today, he is also released. Welcome back, Satyendra!”
Satyendra Jain was first detained on money laundering charges by the Enforcement Directorate in May 2022. This he did in May last year when he was released on health issues, a period he spent on the outside until the recent nine months imprisonment on the same bail. It was last March this year that during a routine bail mentioning before the Supreme Court, the court directed him to surrender. Jain obeyed and reported at Tihar Jail on 18 March and the agency set free the prisoners that had been arrested in connection with the case.
Jain’s release is the big bonanza for AAP especially when Delhi Assembly elections are around the corner. But when Jain was in prison some other senior AAP leaders had managed to obtain bails. Ex CM Kejriwal, Ex Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and MP Sanjay Singh have been released on bail which will further boost the party’s prospect as the election campaigning is a very much on the progress.
The ED had arrested Jain on 30 May 2022, and earlier, Special Judge Rakesh Syal had slated the observations as sealed. Legal consultant of Jain argued that his clients’ custody was useless to continue the detaining process, which compelled the court to release bails. The ED also vigorously opposed the bail saying that in the event the accused is released, he will influence some of the witnesses. The charges preferred against Jain come from an FIR that was filed in 2017 by the CBI when it was acting in its capacity as the investigating agency under the Prevention of Corruption Act.